Ireland Construction Slows in Jan

Published By : 09 Feb 2015 |Published By : QYRESEARCH

Growth eased up a little in the Irish construction sector in January, marking the lowest level that is has been at since a year, activities arose at a much slower pace during the month, according to a survey report released on Monday by Markit Economics.

The Construction Purchasing Managers’ index from Ulster Bank witnessed a fall from December 2014’s 63.1 to January 2015’s 57.1. It still means that the sector is expanding, as a reading above 50.0 signifies expansion.

The rise in construction activity in January 2015, although sharp, was short, and remained the weakest since January 2014.

Commercial activity was the sharpest of the three sub categories on construction in spite of having relatively eased up for the third consecutive month.

New orders’ rate of growth remained slow and slumped to its weakest since August 2013. However it did remain solid inside the month.

Housing activity has risen at the slowest pace. It recorded the weakest rise in January after August 2013. Civil engineering activity on the other hand, rose again. It has grown now for four months in a row.

There is still an optimistic outlook for the Irish construction sector. This was demonstrated by the strong level of employment that was maintained in the construction sector despite the slow rate of growth. While activities and new orders slowed down, employment remained strong due to positive expectations for upcoming workloads.

Input prices have jumped high during January after the euro weakened. This increase was however mitigated by the falling fuel costs, thereby keeping a steady pace on the input price inflation.